Horse-detacher.



No. 792,347. s PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905. A. H. FENCE.

HORSE DETAGHER.

APPLICATION FILED SBPT.19, 1904.

Witnesses Inventor,

Patented June 13, 1905.

PATENT OEEIo ALONZO H. FENCE, OF SOMERVILLE, ALABAMA.

HORSE-DETACHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,347, dated June 13, 1905.

Application filed September 19, 1904. Serial No. 225,015.

T 0/ whom may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoNzo H. PENoE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Somerville, in the county of Morgan and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Horse-Detacher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices operative from the drivers seat for detaching the horses from the vehicle in event of runaways or accidents, and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and decrease the expense of manufacture.

WVith these and other objects in view, which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in certain novel features of construction, as hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which corresponding parts are denoted by like designating characters, is illustrated the preferred form of embodiment of the invention capable of carrying the same into practical operation, it being understood that the invention is not necessarily limited thereto, as various changes in the shape, proportions, and general assemblage of the arts may be resorted to without departing from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

In the drawings thus employed, Figure 1 is a plan view of a swingletree with the improvement applied. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail with the trace-hook closed or in operative position, and Fig. 3 is a like view with the trace-hook open or released.

The improved device comprises ferrules or sockets for attachment u on each end of the whifiletree 11 and each f rrule provided in the outer end with an 0 en slot 12, in which the trace hook or catc 13 is pivoted, as at 14. The inner ends of the hooks 13 engage the inner or bottom ends 15 of the slots 12 by one corner 16, while the other corner 17 is rounded, so that the hook can swing in one direction only, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. Each of the ferrules is provided intermediate its socket ortion, which is designated 10, and the s 0t 12 at its outer end with a solid portion, (designated 12%) and extending rearwardly from said solid portion of each of the ferrules are spaced perforated lugs 18 19, through which bolts 20 pass and are held with their outer ends 21 projecting over the inner ends of the slots 12 and the square corners 16 of the hooks 13 by springs 22, encircling the rods between the guide-lugs.

The pivots 14, upon which the trace-hooks 13 are mounted, are disposed about midway between the outer and inner ends of said tracehooks, so that the latter may swing freely upon said pivots. The inner ends of the trace-hooks between the corners 16 and 17 are cut off obliquely, and the inner ends of the slots 12, as shown at 15, are correspondingly oblique, thus forming a stop or abutment for the inner ends of the tracehooks, which when thus contacting, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, will be positively prevented from swinging farther in a forward direction. Rearward movement on the part of the inner ends of the trace-hooks when the latter are in the locked position (shown in Fig. 2) is prevented by the engaging ends 21 of the bolts 20. The heads or ends 21 of said locking-b0lts are rounded upon their outer corners, as clearly shown in the drawings, for ready engagement with the trace-hooks, which latter may be readily swung into closed or locked position.

Cords or cables 23 lead from the inner ends of the bolts 20 through suitable guide-eyes 24 to a point convenient to the drivers seat upon the vehicle.

The outer ends of the bolts 20 where they pass through the guide-lugs 19 are square, so that the bolts are held from rotation in the lugs and with the extremities 21 of the lugs turned laterally for engaging the corners 16 of the trace-hooks 13, and thus serve as stops to prevent displacement of the hooks until the bolts are withdrawn. The square portions of the bolts also form shoulders, against which the springs 22 bear to render them ef fective when the bolts are actuated.

Stop-pins 25 are inserted in the bolts to bear against the guide-lugs 18 to limit the outward movement of the same.

With a vehicle having its whiffletrees equipped with the improved device herein described the horse or horses can be instantly released by simply drawing upon the cords 23, as will be obvious, if occasion requires it.

The construction is simple and ineXpensive and can readily be applied to any size or form of Whiffletree or to the Whiffletrees of any style or form of vehicle.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed is The combination with a Whiffletree, of a ferrule having an intermediate solid portion. and provided at one end With a socket engag ing the end of the Whifiietree and at the other end with a slot having an oblique inner end, perforated ears or lugs extending from the solid intermediate portion of the ferrule, a locking-bolt supported in said ears or lugs and having a non-circular portion engaging the correspondingly-shaped aperture in the outer lug and terminating in a rounded head extending beyond the inner end of the slot in the ferrule, a spring coiled upon the lockingbolt and bearing at one end against the inner lug and at the other end against the non-circular portion of the locking-bolt, and a tracehook pivoted in the slot of the ferrule and having an oblique inner end abutting upon the correspondingly oblique inner end of the slot, the inner end of said trace-hook being rounded upon its front side.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ALONZO H. FENCE.

Witnesses WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, ROMAN T. PUoKE'r'r. 

